Part 2 of 3 for my childhood body image series; Thin Ideals & Thigh Gaps

Do you remember Grocery store lines with magazines of women being celebrated for their body one day then ridiculed the next

One day they’re the cover girl for fitness advice, the next, they were telling us they couldn’t get booked because now they’re “too skinny”

Then enter tumblr & pinterest with the thigh gap being idealized

Girls would literally stand with their toes pointing each other to try to create the illusion of a thigh gap

I’ve never had a gap in my thighs in my entire life. My legs were born to touch! As a grown woman now, I can appreciate my big legs

When I realized I have bigger legs, It almost became a part of my identity…thick thighs, fat bottomed (thank you Queen), & athletic legs….

As a young child, I didn’t think much of my legs. Other than the birthmark on my thigh that I was so self conscious of & once spent hours in the bathtub to literally peel it off🙈 (it came back as you can see)

But once pre-teen years came, it became obvious to me that not only would I not be able to fit in any of the clothing the other girls were wearing from ltd 2 & Abercrombie, but I also would have legs that were bigger than the boys’. I used to sit at the very very edge of my chair in school just so no one would see how much space my legs took up when I was sitting down

& being a volleyball player, spandex was literally our uniform so there was NO hiding my big legs

It wasn’t until high school that I started receiving compliments for my legs. Simultaneously, a girl was willing to yell across the campus “thunder thighs” & tweet about the leg days I’d post

I don’t think young me would believe we’d get to a place where we love our legs like I do now

It wasn’t about “big legs are better”- I know the opposite ‘problem’ is true for many, it was about me saying “my legs are strong & get me where I need to go…I love that I can accentuate my curves & embrace my shape instead of always thinking it needs to be smaller or more like ___’s”

Did you have any experiences like this? 

Isn’t it funny how the “standard” always changes? What matters most is you being HEALTHY & CONFIDENT